stained a crimson red
by gormogon
Summary: red/lizzie after episode finale...
1. Chapter 1

She touched the part of her forehead where he had kissed her ever s gently only a week ago as if she were a porcelain doll too rare to handle already fractured in her design and thus likely to break into a thousand pieces.

A dull trill broke through her reverie and she answered almost reflexively on the second ring.

What she didn't anticipate was a frantic Dembe on the other end. Dembe rarely broke composure and his shaken rushed voice immediately put her on guard.

'Elizabeth…he's gone..Reddignton they took him'

'ok Dembe where are you?the usual place?' a pause as she continued listening

'ok listen this line may not be safe I'm hanging up and I will meet you there in 10'

She grabbed her service weapon just in case and her kit sped through traffic in a blank state as of electrocuted with fear and numbness unable to think,not allowing herself to think for fear of what her mind would conclude.

She pulled up outside the warehouse and saw Dembe hunched just inside the was another car there too that she recognised,she didn't know whether this familiarity was a good or bad thing however.

'hey Dembe you ok?'

'im fine but there were ten of them and these guys weren't amateurs they were skilled from what I could tell they didn't intend on causing a scene, Reddington just went with them he….he said he would leave with them if they left me live'

Although Lizzie never understood Dembe and Reddington's relationship she understood Dembe's difficulty in having to relinquish power in a situation, he had this in common with Reddington it seemed.

She nodded trying to keep down the nausea flooding her had been kidnapped before of course but thos was different this wasn't just for revenge or some information scavenge this was were looking for something specific.

'casualties?' she asked nodding at the two dead men behind them.

'I wasn't giving up without a fight' she smiled at that as the woman zipping up the body bag stood up and walked towards them signalling her men to follow.

'hello Lizzie nice to see you again'

'Mr Kaplan thank you for-

'please find him dear…I don't like the look of this one'

Lizze nodded as Mr Kaplan grasped her hand before moving on. She couldn't ignore it any more,Dembe was worried and now even Mr Kaplan was telling her this case was on a whole new level.

Red's life was in real danger.

It was sunny today, from what he could tell from the shaft of light breaking through the walls.

That means Lizzie would wear crimson,the type of crimson that made her appear lascivious. He had found it to be _her_ colour,the one that he would forever accustom to her ever since she wore that dress with that glorious thigh length slit…but he would revel in that memory when the time came,the moment before he took his last breath.

For now he had to focus that was the only way he would survive he was counting on her to find him because he was fully aware that only his willpower and bargaining alone would not get him through this not with the people he had guessed he was dealing with.

For the first time in a long time Reddington felt a niggle of what was it? Uncertainty.

She walked Dembe back to the car as the bodies were moved and Mr Kaplan disappeared into…. god only knew where she went.

As soon as they got to the car Dembe began packing a bag grabbing all the weapons he could find stored in hidden compartments of the car that amazed Lizzie and reminded her of Red oddly in that moment as a man with hidden pockets of danger.

She put her hand over his and stilled him as she whispered

'we play this one close to the vest ok Ill bring only the necessary people on this without catching the notuce of the whole bureau we don't know who we can trust in this… I mean Finch could have men everywhere,hell the kidnappers could be working at the black site right now who knows'

'I understand, I'll be working on my side too contact me if you find anything'

'and Dembe, I don't need to tell you but these guys, I mean I have heard stories about their methods and you seen what they did to Finch right?'

'we will find him'

Defiant and short that's what she needed right now but the lack of assurance in his eyes made her falter and as soon as he drove away she let the nausea overtake her and left the contents flow from her mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

From the way she stormed into the Blacksite that evening they all knew she meant business so she decided to follow Dembe's lead and be short clipped to the point. This was a time sensitive matter after all,they had to find him soon because these people wouldn't take long to get what they wanted and after that Red would become simply expendable.

'Red's been taken'

Her opening statement caught everyone off guard all except Cooper who shook his head and meeting her eyes declared

'it was only a matter of time before they caught up with him, Finch had warned him'

'yeah I know he was simply holding the door on the dogs and now they are wild…we need to work quickly and if I may be frank sir'

She leaned in so only Ressler and Cooper could hear her.

'I would like to keep this between us I mean the immediate group,it was widely known Finch had people working in all of the major agencies and departments-

'understood Agent Keen I will keep the Directors in the dark for now but it wont be long until they notice Red's disappearance given his participation in our operation'

'hopefully he wont be gone long enough for them to notice anyway right now we need to look into Finch's associates especially the ones he may have shared with Red'

'also their involvement with Berlin, there must be something in that too,why did Red kill him in the end? maybe Finch was the one who made his daughter disappear all those ears ago'

When Amir reached his desk whistling to himself the sombre atmosphere hit him like a solar wind though it was still warm for the time of year.

'what did I miss?'

'director Cooper will fill you in, I have to go'

Just as she was leaving she heard Samar call her name, she walked her towards a quiet corner and produced a file

'I followed Tom like you asked, it looks like he was using him as either an informant or-

'paying him off more likely a large sum to get out of dodge, Red hated Tom, it would go against his better taste to have him as an employee …knowing him he probably paid him to-

'To what?'

'nothing'

'Well he may very well may have been the last person to see him'

'I have a bit of unfinished business with him anyway'

And then Meera did something Lizzie found oddly comforting despite the source she grasped her hand and whispered 'we'll find him'

Red played a symphony of his own tempo in his head as he waited he had always preferred Bach to Beethoven if he was honest it was much more refreshing and quirky than Beethovens long drawn deeply sorrowful tones.

But he was not the conductor in this particular orchestra no by his position he was simply one of the may instruments they would pluck and pull for the next few hours until hopefully he was door opened to the side and he found himself squinting at the sight.

His breath caught in his throat as his eyes adjusted to the man before him all dressed in black like some super villain in a 1920's gangster movie. This man was sharp not least of all in his physical features. The complete opposite of his father he thought to himself.

'well now this is quite a surprise, never in a million years would I have guessed we'd meet like this again'

And with that the conductor tapped his stick to begin the first piece.


End file.
